Fleeting Darkness
by Driliongueur
Summary: Living a normal life, Takeo is left reeling as he dies suddenly, and it appears he landed in the bleach universe. Now with a peculiar zanpaktou and a life in the Rukon he never wished for, he learns more about the Bleach universe, and the dark secrets it holds. Bleach Universe with my own Character. A little different but please give it a try. Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**So I had this story idea in my head for a couple of days and thought, what the hell.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

A cool gentle breeze passed through short, jet black hair, as the owner, a fifteen year-old boy, groggily opened his eyes. Grabbing at his head as a wave of dizziness hits him, he slowly sat up, looking around. _What happened?_ His memory was a little foggy. He remembers crossing the road and the headlights of a car then, nothing. Looking around, he notices immediately the blue and red lights of police cruisers in the middle of the road, as well as lights from an ambulance. Standing up, he walks from the sidewalk, where he had woken up, to the street where the cruisers were parked.

Yellow tape surrounded what appeared to be a crime scene. Some police officers were talking close by, with a couple of onlookers beside him, trying to find out what happened. He looked to the man next to him.

"Hey, you know what happened here?" he asked. The man did not seem to hear him so he repeated his question several times, with increasing ire. "What the hell man stop ignoring me!" he yells out as he steps in front of him, flailing his arms to get the stranger's attention, to no avail. Finally, he reaches out to touch the man and, surprisingly and worryingly, his hand passes straight through the man.

Standing in shock, the young teen's mind worked a mile a minute, trying to understand his current situation. But no matter how long he thought, he always came to the same conclusion. _Am I dead?_ At this point, it was the only probable explanation. With growing fear and anxiety, he slowly turned around to the crime scene, not having noticed that the onlooker was now long gone, and noticed the limp body lying on the pavement, surrounded by a pool of viscous liquid. _Blood. It's blood._ He thought, as he ducked under the yellow tape, walking closer to the body.

The body was mangled, the limbs not all attached to the body and some organs having spilled out. Despite all that, he could not help but to recognize the same face he saw in the mirror every morning. _I'm dead._ He tried to fully understand what that meant, but his mind kept rejecting the idea. _I'm dead._ He stood immobile, still staring unflinchingly at his cooling body. _I'm dead._ Closing his eyes, he let tears roll down his cheeks. What now? What was the afterlife like? Would he be doomed to roam the earth forever, watching as people lived their lives?

Opening his eyes, he couldn't help but to think of his favorite show, Bleach. It would be so much simpler if he understood the world as he understood the bleach universe. Turning around and walking away from the scene, he played with the idea in his head. _Well, it certainly wouldn't help to try. And if there really is some kind of 'reaper' that will take me to the afterlife, I might as well just hang around and wait for him._ Walking to a bench in front of the bakery, he sat down and closed his eyes. He had meditated several times in the past, and while he was no expert, he at least knew somewhat what he was doing.

Relaxing his breath, he let his mind wander for a while, until it came to a natural rest. At that point, he felt something different, a soft pressure building in the center of his chest. The longer he focused on this pressure, the more warmth spread through his body, energizing him in ways he never felt before. Letting go of his focus he felt the strange warmth and pressure disappear. "Well, if this is 'spiritual energy', then technically, I should be able to do the same moves as a Shinigami!" he spoke to himself excitedly. "Although, I shouldn't get excited for nothing" he pondered. Thinking that he could do the same things as a cartoon seemed childish now, even stupid. But then again, "Well it's not like I have better things to do." He refused to think of seeing his family, how they would mourn him, and how his little brother would now have to take a large amount of responsibility.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he focused on meditating again. This time around, the feeling came to him much faster, now that he knew what he was looking for. "Alright, let's try shunpo. I've always wanted to run really fast." Standing up, he tried to focus on his legs and, strangely enough, most of the warm feeling migrated south and pooled at his legs and feet. Bending his knees, he jumped forward, hoping to get some distance. However, while the feeling was still there, he did not go farther than in his human body. "Damn, well that didn't work." Disappointed but not discouraged, he suddenly had another idea.

Bending his knees, this time he tried to 'throw' the energy outside of his feet, like kicking off sand when running. The world disappeared for a moment, and reappeared in the form of a brick wall, on which he ran into full speed. "Ow! What the hell?!" he grabbed at his nose, trying to comprehend what just happened. Looking behind him, he noticed the bench he was seated at only moments ago, across the street from where he was at the moment. In a split second, he was able to cross the road and slam into the wall of the opposite shop.

In a second, his whole demeanor changed. Eyes bright, heart beating furiously, he marveled at what he was just able to accomplish. His inner thoughts were however interrupted by a loud howl in the distance. His smile fell as his thoughts caught up to him. _Hollow._ _Of course! If I can do what the bleach characters can do, then the other creatures must also be real!_ Now starting to panic, he started running in the opposite direction, hoping to get some distance between him and the monstrous creature. _Shit! If I'm right, then me activating any small amount of spiritual energy may have alerted that thing to my presence! Stupid!_ He chastised himself.

Wracking his brain for a solution, he could only find three options. Either he keeps running and hiding, in the hopes that the creature doesn't find him. He could also stand and fight the thing, though he highly doubted he stood a chance. His third, most viable option, was to find a Shinigami. _But where do I even start?!_ Vancouver was a big city, he couldn't waste time by searching everywhere, he needed a smarter solution.

Stopping suddenly, he had a revelation. _Spiritual energy!_ Sure he had just awakened his a couple of minutes ago, but if he wanted a chance of survival, the Shinigami would be his only shot. Running towards an intersection, he hid behind a corner, and closed his eyes.

Calling upon his own energy, he tried to look outward for a similar sensation. He almost jumped out of his skin when he 'felt' a very dark, and ominous looking one. _That one must be the hollow._ Shaking himself out of his stupor, he kept looking. After what felt like hours, he noticed an energy, not much unlike his own, but much stronger and much less ominous than that of the hollow. _That's him!_

Quickly resuming his run, he moved towards the supposed shinigami's presence. _Even if it isn't a Shinigami, anything's better than whatever made that awful howl!_ He thought as he sprinted towards his only hope. At the same time, he felt the ominous presence close in, as he cursed. There was no way he could outrun the thing. Gathering whatever energy he had left, he tried to pool his spiritual energy towards his legs again and kick off towards a close-by roof. This time, he successfully landed, and kept running, now jumping from roof to roof, with shunpo to aid him. It wasn't perfect, and sometimes he would almost trip and land on his face, but it certainly gave him some much needed speed.

With growing worry, he noticed the pressure in the middle of his chest start to diminish, as his shunpo started to get sloppier. He was running out of reiatsu. _Shit! Just a little farther!_ Just as he thought he had reached the supposed Shinigami, a terrible pain ripped through the right side of his body, as he stopped in his tracks. Looking over his shoulder, body shaking, all he saw were huge teeth and empty, large eyes inside a bone-white mask. _No!_ He thought in despair.

The hollow started to move its teeth, trying to eat him, when a slice suddenly appeared on the creature's mask. Howling in agony, it let him go abruptly, dropping him towards a near-by roof. This time, he saw a man wearing black and wielding a katana appear in front of the beast and slash his mask cleanly through the middle.

As the hollow dissolved, the man turned towards him, walking slowly. Groaning in pain, he tried to sit up, now seeing that blood was pouring from his wounds. _Huh, so the dead do bleed._ He absurdly thought.

Arriving in front of him, the Shinigami kneeled. He was a middle aged man, with small streaks of graying hair among dark brown. His eyes were a steely grey, looking calm and steady despite the dire situation.

"What's your name, kid?" he heard him ask. Looking up in slight awe, his reply was so low that he thought the older man didn't hear him. "Takeo, my name's Takeo." Nodding his head, the man took out his blade, and pointed the hilt towards the teen. "Well Takeo, staying here is not safe for you, as you can see. I'm going to send you to soul society, where you will be safe." Staring dumfounded and still reeling from the surreal experience, Takeo could only nod numbly to the older man.

When the cold hilt touched his forehead, he felt a shiver run through him, and a sense of calm and comfort set in. Closing his eyes in peace, the last thing he heard was the Shinigami re-sheathing his sword. _Zanpaktou._ He corrected himself. _It's a Zanpaktou…_


	2. Chapter 2

Opening his olive-green eyes slowly, the first thing Takeo noticed was a warm, gentle breeze. Sitting up, he noticed that he was in a large grass field, with nothing and no one as far as the eye could see. He also noticed a small hill to his right. Standing up, he ran to climb it, reaching the top in seconds and staring at what lay before him.

At the foot of the hill, he saw what seemed to be a rural village. The houses seemed old and dilapidated, and they had the Japanese style that wasn't seen in centuries. At this sight, only one thought passed through his mind. _Rukongai._ It had to be. If he was right about reiatsu, Shinigami, and hollows, then that would be the logical conclusion. _But which district?_ Looking at the dirty roads and the sketchy-looking people, he concluded that he wasn't in the upper districts.

Walking down the hill, he cautiously approached the village, knowing that it may not be the safest. However, no one seemed to pay him any mind. Walking up to a sickly old man, sitting and leaning on an old destroyed house, he asked, "Excuse me, what district are we in?" The old man looked up at him, shooting him a strange look, before answering him. "South 80th, brat. This yer first day here?" Takeo simply nodded at that. The old man gave a short, raucous laugh, ending in a string of coughs. "Well ya better learn ta take care of yerself soon kiddo." He kept chuckling ominously as the teen backed away in worry. _80_ _th_ _. Isn't that like the worst place to live in?_

A commotion to his left snapped him out of his thoughts. Seeing a bunch of thugs, wearing traditional but dirty Japanese clothes and wielding large swords, he ran behind the broken building, trying to steer clear of the dangerous looking men. Stopping at an old shop, the men slowly formed a half circle behind their leader as he spoke.

"Oi! Ya have anything good for us ya old fart?!" In answer, a heavy set old man came walking slowly out of the shop, his hands squeezing together in nervousness. In fact, the man's whole body was shaking, and Takeo could not fault him for his reaction.

"I-I-I'm so-sorry F-Fujio-san! I-I couldn't get anything to-today." Answered the poor old man, bowing heavily at the end of his sentence and not looking up.

"That's what ya told me yesterday and da day before that! I'm startin' ta think we're not allies anymore!" responded the man now identified as Fujio. The older man stayed still, either because he was frozen in fear or because he couldn't figure out what to say, Takeo wasn't sure. The dangerous man looked away and, for a second, the teen thought he would leave. How wrong he was.

Fujio used the old man's position to land a solid kick to his face, effectively throwing the man back a meter or two. Then, in front of everyone there, the rest of the thugs converged and started punching, kicking, and stomping on the poor old man. They kept punching and kicking until a puddle of viscous blood started pooling around his limp body. They didn't bother using their swords.

After a while, they stopped, seemingly bored with the activity. They then slowly started to walk away, laughing to one another and mocking the dead man. Takeo was frozen in place. He'd never seen such a horrendous sight. How could anyone be this cruel?

Finally moving, he slowly approached the cooling body and just stood there, seeming to wait for the man to move, make a sound, anything. "He's done for kid, just deal with it." Looking behind him, he sees the old sickly man he was talking to earlier look at him. "If ya want ta survive here, ya gotta mind yer own business, don't make any friends, you'll lose 'em, and most importantly, never trust anyone. Ya hear me boy?!" He uttered the last sentenced in ire and slight bitterness. Jason just closed his eyes tight, trying to hold back the tears, and simply nodded. The man seemed to settle at that. "Good. Now get outa here. I don't wanna see yer face here again ya hear me?"

At that, the teen slowly turned around, and walked deeper into the district. It was only a couple of minutes later that he noticed the tears that were going down his face. _This is a terrible place! I want to leave!_ He thought. But of course, he knew that logically, leaving was not such a simple task. So he kept walking, not knowing where he was heading and at this point not really caring.

He walked for hours, the sights and smells around him turning the situation grimmer every moment. The sun had set by the time he stopped, noticing a tree in a relatively deserted part of the town. Walking up to it, he sat down under the tree, looking up at the stars. _What am I going to do now?_ He felt his stomach grumble as hunger gnawed at him. _If I'm hungry it means I do indeed have spiritual energy. But is that enough to get into the Academy? And if it's not, how long do I have to stay here and train until I get the required level?_ Without noticing, he slipped into a fitful sleep, worry permeating his dreams.

The next morning, he tried to concentrate on his reiatsu again, but was unable to. Each time he tried, his stomach would grumble and he would be reminded of how hungry he was. Finally giving up, he stood up and started walking again, in the hopes of finding some food.

After an hour however, he noticed that the only food available was in shops, and that cost money. Money he didn't have. The trees, if there were any, did not bear any fruit, so he could rule that out. Arriving at another deserted part of town, he noticed a small stream, and brightened immediately. _Maybe._ Running towards the stream, he was relieved to find that indeed, as he had predicted, there were fish swimming. "Yes! Food! Now, how do I catch them?" He tried catching one with his bare hands a couple of times, to no avail. Looking around, he noticed a couple of branches lying on the ground beside a tree. He picked one up, broke off the tip so it had a more rugged edge, and stepped into the stream again.

For another hour, he poked in the water, trying impale a fish, only succeeding three times. Stepping back, he grabbed his three fish and contemplated how to cook them. Fortunately, he had often gone camping with his father, and so was able to gather firewood quite rapidly. _But, how do I light it?_ Looking around for some stones, he gathered a couple, hoping some would do the trick. Hitting them against each other, he tried to light a fire on the leaves and branches. Luckily, one of the pair of rocks seemed to do the trick and, minutes later, he had his three fish impaled on sticks and roasting by the fire.

Proud of himself, Jason sat down in front of the flames, waiting for his meal to cook, as he thought about his situation. The best course of action at this point in time would be to train here in the 80th district and then apply to the academy. _It could be useful if I make contact with my zanpaktou, but at this point, I don't really think that's possible without some form of training._ He tried wracking his brain, to remember if the bleach comic had mentioned anything about the requirements of acceptance into the academy, but he drew a blank.

Sighing, he thought of his family and friends, and how they would be missing him right now. He hated when people worried about him and always strived for independence, so the thought of his mourning family and friends left a bitter taste in his mouth. Closing his eyes, he again tried to fight tears. For the first time, he was truly alone, and that simple realization came crashing hard.

Shaking his head, he went back to planning his escape from the 80th, a much simpler subject to think about at this point. "Well, the best thing I can do at this point is train as hard as I can and hope for the best." He said aloud, hoping to motivate himself. Grabbing a fish, he bit hungrily into it, savoring the taste. It had no flavour to speak of, but it was food, and it would have to suffice for the mean time.

Finishing his food, he got up and concentrated on his reiatsu again. This time, the energy easily responded and rose to the surface. Concentrating on his legs, he tried shunpo again, and kept training to control it until the sun set, at which point he quite literally collapsed from exhaustion, only waking up the next morning, even hungrier than the day before.

Months passed in that manor, fishing, eating, training, sleeping, repeat. At first, he only focused on shunpo, trying to control his movements efficiently. Then, he tried to charge the rest of his limbs with energy, gathering enough energy to destroy large boulders and trees. As the days passed, he felt himself grow stronger and faster, his reiatsu easily in his grasp at any time.

Eventually, he got curious. _Can I do kido?_ He paused at that. Could he? Most kido he only knew by name, not the incantation, and he now cursed himself for not being more of a geek and memorizing them for fun. _Maybe if it's a low enough spell, I won't need the incantation._ Slowly approaching one of the last remaining boulders in the clearing, he pointed his hand towards it, palm facing forward, and uttered, "Hado no yon, byakurai!" Suddenly, he felt a chunk of his reitsu coagulate in his right palm, almost burning it with the intensity, and then fire forward in the form of a burst of blue lightning, striking the boulder dead center and shattering it into several hundreds of pieces. Gobsmacked, he simply stared at his right hand in awe. "Oh my god! That was so fucking awesome!" He almost squealed. He felt like such a fangirl, but damn, he just shot lightning out of his palm! If that wasn't worth getting excited over, he didn't know what was.

He tried the same kido spell a couple more times, this time focusing on making it more compact and precise. He however did not dare do any of the higher number kido. If he got injured here, he was a goner.

That night, he lay again under the same large tree, closing his eyes and feeling proud of his progress. As he was slowly losing consciousness, he thought he heard someone utter his name.

He got up the next day in the same manner as always, walking up to the stream and fishing a couple of fish, now being much more proficient at it due to practice. With seven fish now roasting on the fire, he crossed his leg in front of the fire and 'looked inwards'. He wasn't sure if what he heard yesterday before falling asleep was real, but if it was, this would be his chance to find out.

After eating, he continued to try and meditate, until he was interrupted by an agglomeration of ominous and powerful reiatsu slamming into him. Jumping to his feet, he had no time to run away before he was surrounded by a large group of hollows. _Shit! Here too?! I must have attracted them by the kido yesterday!_ He thought as he wracked his brain for a way out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large hand coming towards him and he shunpoed out of the way, glad that he worked on his control of the move. Another hollow tried to sneak behind him, and he ducked and flashed away again. For several minutes, that was all he did. Evade. _I can't do this forever._ At some point, he either had to outrun them or defeat them. Seeing as there was no escape, his only solution was to fight.

Steeling himself, he stopped for a split second, and redirected himself towards the nearest hollow. Shunpoing directly behind its head, he gathered energy in right fist, and struck as hard as he could. The result was the hollow's head quite literally exploding in his face, blood spraying him as he fell back to the ground.

Wiping the blood from his eyes, he looked around at the rest of the hollows. There were 5 left, each one shaped as a different type of insect. One a centipede, two seemed to be some different types of roaches. The other two he could not tell, but they were definitely ugly, he thought with a sardonic smile.

Gathering energy in both his fists this time, he shunpoed forward again, dodging a swipe at the last second before reappearing directly in front of mask and blowing it to pieces. He was however not paying attention, as a swipe from another hollow slammed into his right side, throwing him meters away.

Landing hardly on the grass, he gasped for breath, trying to get back up on his feet. _I can't die now!_ Sure this place was awful so far, but he had so much to discover in the bleach universe, so much power to attain. With sheer force of will, he stood up, raising his right palm while holding his stomach with his left. _I only have one shot and I'm almost out of power._ Throwing caution to the wind, he decided on his course of action.

Waiting patiently until the hollows approached him, gathering together in front of him, probably thinking he was already dead. Charging as much reiatsu as he could muster, he uttered the hado. _I hope this doesn't blow up in my face._ "Hado no san-juu san, soukatsui!" A large, blue light emerged from his palm, as he felt what was left of his spiritual energy being sapped by the spell. The last thing he saw before dropping and passing out was an explosion engulfing the last three hollows.

In the darkness of his unconsciousness, he heard the voice again, this time much clearer and closer than before. _Takeo, come find us._ And unconsciously, he did. Through the silence of his mind, he 'moved' towards the undoubtedly male, powerful, and calming voice.


	3. Chapter 3

Opening his eyes, he was faced with a full moon against a starless, pitch black sky. Sitting up, he expected to see the clearing where he was attacked. Instead, he found himself lying in the grass in front of a small natural pool, whose water was a clear, almost glowing blue. Far towards the horizon, he saw trees, probably meaning that he was surrounded by a large forest. From where he stood, he saw that in that rather large grass clearing, ruins lay abandoned. Made out of white bricks, they did not have any discernable shape, and he could not guess what they used to be.

Looking back towards the pool, he now noticed a man standing in front of it, facing him. The man was clad in leather pants and a trench coat, tied together by large, square flaps, lined in silver. The collar of the coat came up high, hiding half the man's face. Long, jet-black hair was tied by silver ties. He had several earrings, all silver, on both ears and glowing, silver eyes.

Takeo guessed who the man was, but faced with the situation, he was at a loss for words. Fortunately, the man seemed to understand that, as he walked closer to the teen, keeping a steady stream of conversation. " _You know who I am, Takeo, I know you do."_ He stopped in front of the teen, eyes staring intently, almost expecting an answering, but he continued speaking. _"You're curious and ambitious, but you lack resolve. You want power, and we can give it to you."_

Still dumbfounded at the whole situation, he only stuck on one part of the sentence. "We?" As in, more than one. As he spoke, he felt a warm breath hitting the back of his head. A shiver running up his spine, he slowly turned around, coming face to face with a wolf-like creature. Its fur was completely black, with wine red markings all over its body, extending to the bone-like mask over its head. The mask was white, ending with an extra set of menacing fangs, covering its jaw. Finally, two holes exposed a pair of glowing silver eyes, similar to the one of the man, except for the pupils that were slits, looking cat-like.

He swallowed hard, feeling an ominous aura coming from the second being. His attention was taken away as the man continued talking. _"You need not fear us, we are a part of you."_ Turning around abruptly, he was startled to hear another voice. **_"Your fear only means weakness here, brat. Grow a spine. If you want our power, you better shape up."_** The wolf spoke with a distorted voice, horrifying to hear, but the boy steeled himself, now looking directly at the creature. Though it had no visible lips, he felt that it smiled, somewhat in approval, somewhat in dark excitement. **_"That's better. Now listen well, I'm not going to repeat myself. Our name is Hakanai no Yami."_**

The name seemed to resonate across his inner world. "Hakanai no Yami." He uttered under his breath, rolling the name on his lips and familiarizing himself with it. _"Remember it, Takeo, and head towards the Shino Academy. You have nothing here."_

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah, and besides, you're so weak you may just get killed by one of these thugs while you're trying to train. Too much of a hassle. Just leave."_**

Nodding silently, he started planning his trip. His zanpaktou spirits simply looked on patiently, seemingly waiting for a response. Looking towards the man, Takeo simply nodded and, with a smile from the strange spirit, he was again engulfed in darkness as he exited his inner world.

Waking up, he almost wished he stayed in his inner world. The whole right side of his body was in so much pain, he cried out as he tried to sit up. Looking over, he noticed there was no blood, but that he could no longer move his arm. His ribs were also broken, and he had a hard time breathing. _Shit! How the hell am I supposed to get anything done like this? And most importantly, is this going to heal properly?_

Just as he was starting to panic, he heard his zanpaktou's voice. **_"Don't worry about your injuries, brat, I'm working on healing them. In the mean time, don't get yourself killed."_**

Sighing in relief, he gently got to his feet, and walked very slowly to cover. It would do him no good if he faced more trouble while he was in this state. Luckily, he was still in the deserted part of town and was able to find an old, run-down, abandoned shack. Limping to it, he hid there for the remainder of the day, feeling his wounds slowly healing and what was left of his spiritual energy being completely used up.

He fell asleep that night, completely spent, but with the hopes that his situation would be improved in the near future.

The next morning, he relieved to find that he no longer felt any pain in his body and that his reiatsu was almost, if not entirely, regenerated. Walking out of the shack, he concluded that his first order of affairs was to gather information about the Shino Academy. How to get there, and when he could apply.

Walking around town, he tried to question people, but most either completely ignored him or shoed him off, some rather violently. By mid-day, he was almost considering giving up and returning to his training, a much more enjoyable activity in his opinion, when he noticed a very old paper stuck on one of the older buildings. Walking closer to it in curiosity, he could make out the parts that weren't faded, and it read: Shino Academy recruitment office, directly north, recruiting twice a year during the months of September and January.

Grinning in triumph, he was happy at his small victory. _Wait._ He paused. _What month are we?_ Sighing to himself, he again went looking for information, this time about the date. _Damn! Why didn't I just keep track?_ After another hour, he was lucky enough to find someone who gave him the information, albeit rudely: "We're in April, ya damn bum, now fuck off!"

Chuckling to himself, he started to find the constant anger from the residents here quite entertaining. Shaking his head, he had the sudden thought that he might just be going insane.

Focusing back on more important manners, he counted down the months until the deadline of the Academy. If he wanted to play it safe, he had just over 4 months, leaving maybe 7 days for the trip. _I don't really know how far it is, even with my shunpo. So better safe than sorry._ Until then, he could still work on his shunpo and what little kido he knew, as well as work with his zanpaktou. Though he didn't have an asuchi, he could still train in his inner world.

It was early evening when he got back to the stream where he spent the last several months. However, this time, he wasn't alone. The thugs he had seen on his first day in the district where standing in the water, trying to catch fish, and laughing.

He felt his heart hammer against his chest. Though he had faced the hollows yesterday and was able to defeat them, the thought of taking on the people that he saw ruthlessly kill another human made him queasy. He had never been prone to violence and, while athletic, his friends and family knew him only as a slightly introverted, rather peaceful teen.

Making his decision quickly, he slowly started stepping backwards, hoping to get some distance between himself and the thugs before he started running. Unfortunately for him, he was so scared that he did not notice the rather large rock behind him, and tripped, landing hard on his behind. This seemed to attract the attention of the men, as they quieted down and looked directly at him.

"Oi! Who da hell are you?!" said one of them. He had messy, long brown hair, and an ugly grimace on his face. He was probably hoping to intimidate him and, looking down at his shaking knees, Takeo confirmed that it was working. The rest of them had similar appearances, one with a couple earring in his nose and mouth, and three other with ugly, jagged scars on their face and what showed of their chest. There were eight in total, and the sheer number was enough to make the teen shudder in fear.

 _Damn! What do I do?! Fight?!_ Looking over at the thugs and their rather large blades, he concluded that the fight would be a little more complex than fighting the hollows. In the mean time, the what appeared to be the leader started speaking. "Everyone here outta know that dis is our turf, and ya can't fish what ain't yours, now can ya?" he finished with an ominous grin, his friends chuckling darkly behind him. _Shit! This isn't turning out good!_ Straightening up on his feet, he hesitantly spoke, trying not to stutter but still hearing a slight quiver in his tone.

"I didn't eat any fish, I just came here." "Liar! Our buddy saw ya two days ago filling yerself!" said one of them, the leader raising his hand to shut him up. "See brat, I hate liars, and yer a really bad one too! Tha least ya could do is try harder!" He seemed to get angry at that, lowering his sword that he had propped on his shoulder previously. Seeing this, his friends also seemed to ready themselves for a fight and Takeo felt as if his stomach had fallen between his legs. _Shit! I made it worse! What do I do now?!_ In the middle of an internal panic attack, he was abruptly interrupted by his zanpaktou.

 ** _"_** ** _What the fuck do you think you're doing, you cowardly piece of shit?! I'm not going to obey a master that runs at the first sign of danger! Keep fucking this up, and you'll never hear my voice again, understood?!"_** Startling at the rather violent and loud voice, he steeled himself. Gathering his energy, he remembered that his only way out of this situation, was through his zanpaktou, and that included getting his hands dirty. He couldn't back out now, he was dumped in the worst place in Rukongai, but he would make sure that he wouldn't die here.

He increased his reiatsu in increments, charging his limbs with power and readying himself for a confrontation. This earned him a smirk from the leader as he mocked him. "Hey look fellas, the kid thinks he can fight!" This earned him loud laughs and sneers, but Takeo paid them no mind. He was resolved, he would do what he had to survive.

The leader clicked his tongue, and ran straight at him, blade swinging in a wide arc, followed by his friends, each letting out coarse battle cries. The teen waited until they were within striking distance before he shunpoed out of the way, and struck the first back he saw full force, seeing blood fly at his face. He however could not focus on the man he had downed, as seven more were converging towards him. Shunpoing again, he reappeared very close to another thug, crouched down, and upper cut him, making him fly in the air, landing 20 meters away.

Three other tried to surround him, but he jumped high in the air and fired a byakurai at one of them, landing it in the man's shoulder, as he screamed in pain. Landing a couple of meters away, he got ready to face the rest, but he noticed they had paused, looking at him almost… fearfully? Looking at the man he had injured with his kido, he was clutching his bleeding shoulder and looking at him as if he had grown a second head and proclaimed himself kind of hell.

"W-W-What the hell are ya man?!" He said, voice quivering. Blinking in confusion, Takeo looked at the other two he had hit, only now noticing the state they were in, and it make his stomach flip. One had a huge hole in the center of his upper body, and the other's head had flown off, nowhere to be found. Both bodies were immobile.

The six other thugs took his stupor as a cue to hightail it, running away as fast as they could. It took a couple more minutes for the situation to finally sink in and, when it did, the teen doubled over and emptied his stomach content. Looking back up to the carnage he had left, he turned around and, with his fastest shunpo, left the scene. He would not be returning here again.


End file.
